In exactly one month I’m going to be running in a 5K for charity. Initially I had planned on simply doing the “5K walk” event, but have decided to challenge myself and try the run. I need some help in developing a training program.
Situation:
I’m currently on my third week of the T-Dawg 2.0 diet, following a winter of bulking. I’ve already lost ~12 lbs (much of it water of course) with only short inclined walks as cardio. I had planned on starting HIIT and 400m sprints this week, though it looks like I will be altering that to prepare for this event. I am a pretty poor long distance runner, and have not run a continuous mile in over 4 years. Have not done cardio of any kind since last summer’s cut, which was HIIT exclusively. I obviously would like to preserve as much muscle as possible, but am more concerned about performing well in this race.
NOTE: I have easy access to the 5K course I will be running.
Stats:
Height: 6’0"
Weight: ~218 lbs
Diet:
Running T-Dawg 2.0 to its exact specifications.
Supplements:
Max Strength HOT-ROX (when bottle runs out in two weeks switching to HOT-ROX Extreme).
TRIBEX Gold
Questions:
How should I train for this event?
How will the supplements I’m taking (notably HOT-ROX Extreme) affect my performance.
How should I modify my diet? I had planned on staying on T-Dawg 2.0 up to about a week out from the event, then switching to a higher carb diet in preparation.
I ran a search and found some good threads on training for 5K but none of them addressed this short of a training period, a person of my size, and this specific style of dieting. Any help is much appreciated. Again, this happens in exactly one month from now so time is of the essence.
It would certainly be possible to design a more intensive regimen than I am about to recommend, but I would never encourage a crash training program for a running event due to the great risk of injury. Therefore I am going to suggest that you train as if you had much more time to prepare, and just accept that you can only get so much out one month rather than attempt a P. Diddy and end up crippled.
If you are starting from scratch then I recommend you start with steady-state running at a low volume and build up slowly. Drop the intervals. Intervals are great, but secondary to mileage and will compromise your ability to increase your training volume.
I don’t know how fit you are so it is difficult to prescrime a specific program. What I recommend you do for your first day is go to a track and experiment by running two or three mile repeats at a the most moderate pace you can with 3-5 minutes rest between. If that’s hard, then do it again two days later and it should be easier. If it’s easy, then run as much of three miles consecutively as you can the next day. You get the idea.
I don’t suggest any volume goal the first week. The second week, try to run three miles on 3-4 different days. The third week, shoot for 3-4 miles five or six days out of the week. The fourth week, try to get a few five mile runs in. By this point, your fitness should have increased substantially and you should be ready to go hard for a 5K.
Again, this is not a maximally intensive program, and it may very well be possible that you are capable of doing more. This is a safe, conservative approach that anyone should be successful with.
With regard to diet, I suggest you simply consume maintenance calories. I don’t believe that you will benefit from an enormous caloric intake if you are running modest volumes and not lifting weights concurrently. I fully expect that others will tell you to “eat big” to preserve muscle mass, but I disagree. I think you will just be more likely to gain fat.
I think you’re taking this a little too seriously. A 5k isn’t that much. Its only 3 miles. I understand you said that you haven’t run a mile consistently for a while so I understand there is somewhat of a challenge to this. What are your goals for the run? Are you wanting to be competitive? Trying to impress a girl with your 5k running prowess? Or just finish?
Like the other poster said, just do some steady state low intensity running to build up to the right distance.
My suggestion for training runs are pretty straightforward but sometimes overlooked: don’t eat anything heavy less than 2 hours before any training runs and make sure you warm up enough before you start the actual workout - as in get a light sweat going before you hit the pavement.
And another thing is if you can find a training partner thats a little better than you are. Obviously you don’t want to be training with a Kenyan or something but its a lot easier to keep going when it hurts if you’ve got somebody in front of you keeping the pace. Especially if its a hot babe and she’ll laugh at you if you fall off the pace - that’ll keep you going.
How you prepare will depend on how much you can tolerate currently. Run 5-6 days per week. The most important thing you can do is to increase your volume.
For example:
Week 1
Mon 1 mile
Tues 1.5 mile
Wed 1 mile
Thurs 1.5 miles
Fri 1 mile
Sat 2 miles
Week 2
Mon 1.5 miles
Tues 2 miles
Wed 1.5 miles
Thurs 2 miles
Fri 1 miles
Sat 2.5 miles
Week 3
Mon 2 miles
Tues 2.5 miles
Wed 2 miles
Thurs 2.5 miles
Fri 1 mile
Sat 3 miles
Week 4
Mon 2.5 miles
Tues 3.0 miles
Wed 2.0 miles
Thurs 1.5 miles
Fri 0.5 miles
[quote]chrismcl wrote:
I think you’re taking this a little too seriously. A 5k isn’t that much. Its only 3 miles. I understand you said that you haven’t run a mile consistently for a while so I understand there is somewhat of a challenge to this. What are your goals for the run? Are you wanting to be competitive? Trying to impress a girl with your 5k running prowess? Or just finish?
[/quote]
I’m making it a big deal because I actually would like to be competitive. I’m pretty sure I can finish the run without any training.
Thanks for the suggestions all. You’re all suggesting far more volume than I anticipated. It looks like I should also up my caloric intake to maintenance to compensate for the high volume.
in this case, distance is the deciding factor in your training (usually, if you’re just going for health, IMO it’s better to go by time than distance, but you’re racing sort of).
I think you should be wary of how HARD you run…if you can handle 5 or 6 days a week, which you probably can, be sure that 2-3 are super-light runs, then you can insert a race-pace run and either some short (1-2mi) intense runs, or some longer (3-5mi) medium intensity runs.
Don’t run hard for 3 days before the race, but I like the short and easy runs for active recovery.
I have some Brooks shoes that fit great. I tried them on and they were on sale…they’re semi-rugged but not trail shoes by any means. They fit great, tons of support (I have a pretty big arch in my feet), and they work for sprinting, distance, gravel, indoor, etc, etc. Pretty light too. Just go try shoes on, but don’t go for flash, go for fit…Brooks is a good brand
I don’t think you can realistically try to run a competitive 5k (or any distance) on only one month of concentrated training. Maybe if you have a high tolerance for pain and get behind one of the faster runners, hang on for dear life and you’ll end up with a pretty good time. But if you haven’t been able to run 1 mile consistently for a while, I don’t think you can expect to be competitive.
[quote]chrismcl wrote:
I don’t think you can realistically try to run a competitive 5k (or any distance) on only one month of concentrated training. Maybe if you have a high tolerance for pain and get behind one of the faster runners, hang on for dear life and you’ll end up with a pretty good time. But if you haven’t been able to run 1 mile consistently for a while, I don’t think you can expect to be competitive.[/quote]
Thanks for your candidness. To clarify, it’s not that I CAN’T run a continuous mile, it’s just that I haven’t in a while. I’m a active person, and am pretty sure I could go out today and run an 8-minute mile without trouble. I’m going to go get fitted for some running shoes today, and run 2-3 mile repeats with 5 minute rest, as per belligerent’s suggestion. I’ll update with results.
[quote]chrismcl wrote:
My suggestion for training runs are pretty straightforward but sometimes overlooked: don’t eat anything heavy less than 2 hours before any training runs and make sure you warm up enough before you start the actual workout - as in get a light sweat going before you hit the pavement.
[/quote]
I’m assuming that half a serving of Surge about 20 minutes prior to running would be appropriate. Would you agree? I was planning on one half pre-run and the other half post…
[quote]Moriarty wrote:
Any recommendation on shoes? I’d like to buy some now and break them in throughout my training.[/quote]
Don’t go to a Finish Line, Foot Locker, etc…
It’s basically like going into GNC and asking for advice on supplements - a crap shoot.
Try to find a place where they have experienced runners working there, and possibly a testing area. Some places are pretty impressive, in terms of, setting up a treadmill with a camera and taping your stride, etc… They can figure out the best shoe for how you run.
With that said, you will need an extra-cushioned shoe, since you are 200+. I like the Nike Shox TL3, but, again, let the experts tell you what to go with it.
Also, when you make your purchase, don’t be afraid to return them if you don’t like them after a few runs. Get some good socks too.
[quote]Moriarty wrote:
chrismcl wrote:
I don’t think you can realistically try to run a competitive 5k (or any distance) on only one month of concentrated training. Maybe if you have a high tolerance for pain and get behind one of the faster runners, hang on for dear life and you’ll end up with a pretty good time. But if you haven’t been able to run 1 mile consistently for a while, I don’t think you can expect to be competitive.
Thanks for your candidness. To clarify, it’s not that I CAN’T run a continuous mile, it’s just that I haven’t in a while. I’m a active person, and am pretty sure I could go out today and run an 8-minute mile without trouble. I’m going to go get fitted for some running shoes today, and run 2-3 mile repeats with 5 minute rest, as per belligerent’s suggestion. I’ll update with results.[/quote]
Try it out…time yourself on a 1 mile run and see what you get. From that you could see where some deficits lie in your running and get a general base.
-LH
This sounds familiar…I asked the same question a couple years ago and only had about a month as well to get in shape for it. I hadn’t run in awhile, and I don’t think I could hit an 8min mile, so you might be in a little better initial shape than I was, but here is what I did in a month’s time to prepare for it.
WK1: 3 days 1 mile(m) run, 1 day 2m run
WK2: 3 days 1.5m run, 1 day 3m run
WK3: 3 days 2m run, 1 day 4m run
WK4: 3 days 2.5m run, 1 day 4.5m run
WK5: 3 days 3.3m run, 1 day 4.5m run
WK6: 3.5m run, 2m e-z run, rest days, 5K
This allowed to run a decent first 5k time and was a huge boost of self confidence for me, a non distance runner. To be able to go out and run 2 miles like it was nothing was really cool.
As you can see it’s just a basic progressive overload, adding distance, and then tapering before the race. The longer days each week were my “psycho” runs, because they were crazy hard, plus psychological, doing the longer distance made it seem the regular days weren’t so long.
Definately go to a runners store to pick up a good pair of shoes too. That is huge, my shin splints went from unbearable to gone in a couple days after I switched shoes.
If you need some other tips, just PM me. Hope this hleps.
This link is to an 8-week program that takes a total couch potato and turns him into a 5k runner. Since you already have a base, you can probably start in the middle and just do the last 4 weeks.
I went and got fitted for some running shoes…picked up a pair of Brooks that fit my mild pronation and with extra cushioning for my weight.
Went and did 2 1-mile runs with a 5 min break in between. Times were:
1st mile: 8:10
2nd mile: 9:02
Had a mid-sized (450 cal) P+F meal about two and a half hours out, then 1 serving of Surge 20 minutes out. On the last lap of the 1st mile I started to get some serious tunnel vision, and thought I was done, but the 5 minute rest was suprisingly effective. I could literally feel how catabolic this type of running is…throughout the second mile my traps and rhomboids felt fatigued just from supporting the weight of my back, and the muscle on my upper back just felt like dead weight I was carrying.
I actually was pleasantly surprised at my performance. Hitting 8 minutes on the 1st mile wasn’t horribly difficult, and I was happy I stayed within 1 minute on my 2nd. I opted not to try a 3rd mile because it started raining halfway through my second, and honestly I was pretty burnt.
I second MikeTheBear’s recommendation on the Couch to 5K program at Cool Runnings. Having a base you could start in Week 6. If you think you are beyond that level, replace Week 6 with 2 miles MWF then go to Week 7.
If you dig on the 5K charity races, there are other programs to help with your time on the same site.
Try to run with good posture (head up, shoulders back) and hit a mid-foot strike (ball of the foot). Landing on your heel is rough after a while.
Get good shoes from a running store. they should measure your foot, check your stride and then bring you a stack of shoes to try on. Spend the MONEY, it will make a difference.